Containers are frequently encountered which have caps attached to them too tightly to manually remove. One common example is when a cap has been vacuum-sealed to a container, such as containers of jams and jellies, juices, pickles, etc. Numerous methods are used by the ordinary consumer to overcome this problem, such as running the container and cap under hot water, or hitting the cap around its periphery with an object such as a knife. However, such methods are typically time consuming and often dangerous, e.g., if the container is manufactured of glass. Further, some caps are placed so tightly upon a container that they cannot be manually removed by such methods.
In response, certain mechanical devices have been developed which attempt to overcome this problem. An example of such a device is disclosed in Windon U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,445, issued Apr. 28, 1987 . A bottle opener which comprises a domed housing surrounding an adjustable clamp is provided. The adjustable clamp encircles bottle caps of various sizes and is adjusted via a handle located on the outside of the domed housing. The domed housing and the adjustment handle provide leverage for twisting the opener, thereby removing the bottle cap. However, the value of this device is limited by the size of the adjustable clamp, with some caps being too large or too small to be tightly encircled by the clamp. Further, the device is relatively mechanically complicated to use and, depending upon the size of the bottle cap, possibly time consuming to use.
Andrews et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,801, issued Jan. 3, 1989, discloses a somewhat related device, i.e., a bottle cap removal torque tester. A portion of the bottle cap removal torque tester comprises a disc-like chuck with a plurality of radiating teeth on the bottom of the disc. These teeth engage a cap when the chuck is rotated, applying a torque to the cap without slippage of the chuck on the cap. The chuck is attached to the bottle cap in order to determine the amount of torque on the cap. This torque tester, however, is not used to manually remove a cap from a container.
A need continues to exist in the art for a device which provides a quick, simple and effective means for removing a cap from a container.